Returning pre-ordered H2O for defect from US?

rwhe · 11-16-2014, 04:20 PM

My H2O battery is clearly hosed.* Can I still return it if I pre-ordered it from the US? Good/bad experiences with this? Best practices?

Thanks.

*I've calibrated my H2O once and am going through the charade of calibrating it the recommended second time, but I've been keeping careful notes and it's pretty clear that my battery is dropping about 10% per hour of reading time, even without any wifi usage.

Obviously, I can't get more than about 9 hours of reading time, as the Kobo shuts down when the battery has only 10% remaining. This is a lot less than is reported by others in this forum, and a lot less than I remember from my three previous Kobo models. The H2O spec claims up to 30 hours of reading time.

jackastor · 11-16-2014, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwhe

My H2O battery is clearly hosed.* Can I still return it if I pre-ordered it from the US? Good/bad experiences with this? Best practices?

Thanks.

*I've calibrated my H2O once and am going through the charade of calibrating it the recommended second time, but I've been keeping careful notes and it's pretty clear that my battery is dropping about 10% per hour of reading time, even without any wifi usage.

Obviously, I can't get more than about 9 hours of reading time, as the Kobo shuts down when the battery has only 10% remaining. This is a lot less than is reported by others in this forum, and a lot less than I remember from my three previous Kobo models. The H2O spec claims up to 30 hours of reading time.

Yes you can, just contact Kobo they will ask you a few questions and then offer a replacements. Some have said this experience may be frustrating but its a process. Now as to the original store you purchased from best thing to do is contact them and find out what your options are.
There are obvious issues with some of the batteries, I like you had issues with battery life and it was annoying. I solved this by returning it to FutureShop and purchasing at a differently store (chapters) to avoid any potential Batch issues with the devices. Since then it works perfectly and very happy with my battery life now.

regards

Jack

rwhe · 11-16-2014, 07:24 PM

I didn't buy my H2O from any FutureShop or any other Canadian store because I'm in the US. For just that reason, I bought it directly from Kobo -- I pre-ordered it, as I stated.

I was looking for tips on navigating Kobo's legendary (ahem) customer service. I wasn't at all impressed with them when I tried to get a tracking number for my H2O.

I see that @KoboHelp on Twitter is dead. Too bad. Any other suggestions for talking to real, helpful people?

[edit]

Oops! @KoboHelp is still alive and posting as of just before the weekend. Didn't mean to start a rumor. They're tweeting replies and DMs only, no public tweets since July. I think I'll talk to them. Carry on!

jackastor · 11-17-2014, 07:55 AM

repeated

murg · 11-17-2014, 04:02 PM

ditto

rwhe · 11-17-2014, 07:31 PM

Well, I'm having second thoughts about returning my H2O. See https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=248160&page=4 if you want details.

jackastor · 11-18-2014, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwhe

Well, I'm having second thoughts about returning my H2O. See https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=248160&page=4 if you want details.

Dude I have over 5000 books on m my sd card and I don't get a battery drain like you are having. I did initially on the first unit I bought but once I exchanged it things changed dramatically.

goodluck

regards

Jack

robko · 11-18-2014, 04:51 PM

I agree with Jack, your device seems to have some sort of issue (hardware??) related to the battery. Mine is on about 40% light, every page refresh, read couple hours a day on average and periodically download over wifi and install new beta firmwares and I'd say I get a least 2 weeks out of it. Never gets turned off (except during firmware installation when it powers off and on), so it's always sleeping. You shouldn't need to do anything special to get decent life (more than 9 hours reading) out of it.

rwhe · 11-18-2014, 07:24 PM

Jack, robko, OK. Now I'm having third thoughts...

[edit]

Thanks.

JimmyH · 11-18-2014, 10:23 PM

Just a word on Kobo customer service ....... I mistakenly thought that the Koba Aura sleep cover would fit an H20 and ordered it. Upon receipt it was obviously too small and I telephoned Kobo. I followed their instructions to return it, sending it back to a USA address via priority mail.

I received an email notifying me that it had been received and I would see a credit for the original order in 3 or 4 days. When the credit appeared they had not only refunded the purchase price, but the $8.00 I had originally paid for shipping too. Of course I had to pay to ship it back to them, but I've never had a vendor refund purchase price and shipping. AFAIC, Kobo customer service is first rate. Best of luck with your situation. Hope they replace it with a trouble free reader.

Rizla · 11-18-2014, 10:32 PM

If you have a lot of books on the sd-card, try removing them all and do a soft reset. A single bad epub can freak out a device, causing it to become unstable and to drain the battery.

davidfor · 11-18-2014, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rizla

A single bad epub can freak out a device, causing it to become unstable and to drain the battery.

Can you explain how? Except during the initial processing, when the cover image needs to be generated and when you are actually reading the book, how is having a bad book on the device going to affect the battery usage?

Rizla · 11-19-2014, 08:39 PM

I have no idea why an epub can do it, but it saw it happen several times on a Sony PRS 650. Something in an epub can make a ereader unstable, including causing battery drain. If you have a lot of books, this would be the first culprit I'd look that. It can make the device unstable without even opening the book.

PeterT · 11-19-2014, 09:23 PM

By any chance, did the Sony have an index feature, one where it would scan the contents of an eBook an pre-process it in any manner?

If so that could well explain how a malformed book could cause issues.

davidfor · 11-19-2014, 09:50 PM

I've never used a Sony ereader, so I don't know about them. For the Kobo ereaders, a broken book can only affect the device when it is doing something with the book. Those times are:

- During the book processing when the device is disconnected. If the book is bad, it is most likely to cause the processing to die and that batch of books won't be added.
- When a cover image is needed. The first page of the book is rendered and the cover displayed.
- When reading the book.

In each of these cases, a bad book is likely to cause more processing and hence use more battery. But, so will a large book or a complicated book. And unless a process is left running in the background because of a problem, after each of these is done, there won't be any extra power used.

If someone has a book that is causing problems at other times, then I'd like to see it. That way I can work out why it is happening.

11-16-2014, 04:20 PM	#1
rwhe Hierodule Posts: 170 Karma: 629686 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo Glo, calibre, Android, FBReader	Returning pre-ordered H2O for defect from US? My H2O battery is clearly hosed.* Can I still return it if I pre-ordered it from the US? Good/bad experiences with this? Best practices? Thanks. *I've calibrated my H2O once and am going through the charade of calibrating it the recommended second time, but I've been keeping careful notes and it's pretty clear that my battery is dropping about 10% per hour of reading time, even without any wifi usage. Obviously, I can't get more than about 9 hours of reading time, as the Kobo shuts down when the battery has only 10% remaining. This is a lot less than is reported by others in this forum, and a lot less than I remember from my three previous Kobo models. The H2O spec claims up to 30 hours of reading time.

11-16-2014, 07:24 PM	#3
rwhe Hierodule Posts: 170 Karma: 629686 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo Glo, calibre, Android, FBReader	I didn't buy my H2O from any FutureShop or any other Canadian store because I'm in the US. For just that reason, I bought it directly from Kobo -- I pre-ordered it, as I stated. I was looking for tips on navigating Kobo's legendary (ahem) customer service. I wasn't at all impressed with them when I tried to get a tracking number for my H2O. I see that @KoboHelp on Twitter is dead. Too bad. Any other suggestions for talking to real, helpful people? [edit] Oops! @KoboHelp is still alive and posting as of just before the weekend. Didn't mean to start a rumor. They're tweeting replies and DMs only, no public tweets since July. I think I'll talk to them. Carry on! Last edited by rwhe; 11-16-2014 at 07:31 PM.

11-18-2014, 07:24 PM	#9
rwhe Hierodule Posts: 170 Karma: 629686 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo Glo, calibre, Android, FBReader	Jack, robko, OK. Now I'm having third thoughts... [edit] Thanks. Last edited by rwhe; 11-18-2014 at 07:27 PM.

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11-17-2014, 07:55 AM	#4
jackastor Wizard Posts: 1,847 Karma: 3212428 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iphone stanza, kobo touch,ASUS TF300,KOBO GLO, Kobo Aura HD, Kobo Mini	repeated

11-17-2014, 04:02 PM	#5
murg No Comment Posts: 3,238 Karma: 23878043 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo: Not just an eReader, it's an adventure!	ditto

11-17-2014, 07:31 PM	#6
rwhe Hierodule Posts: 170 Karma: 629686 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo Glo, calibre, Android, FBReader	Well, I'm having second thoughts about returning my H2O. See https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=248160&page=4 if you want details.

11-18-2014, 04:51 PM	#8
robko Wizard Posts: 2,454 Karma: 5469320 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	I agree with Jack, your device seems to have some sort of issue (hardware??) related to the battery. Mine is on about 40% light, every page refresh, read couple hours a day on average and periodically download over wifi and install new beta firmwares and I'd say I get a least 2 weeks out of it. Never gets turned off (except during firmware installation when it powers off and on), so it's always sleeping. You shouldn't need to do anything special to get decent life (more than 9 hours reading) out of it.

11-18-2014, 10:23 PM	#10
JimmyH Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 56396 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Greenacres, FL Device: Kindle Voyage, Kobo H2O, Droid RazrMaxxHD	Just a word on Kobo customer service ....... I mistakenly thought that the Koba Aura sleep cover would fit an H20 and ordered it. Upon receipt it was obviously too small and I telephoned Kobo. I followed their instructions to return it, sending it back to a USA address via priority mail. I received an email notifying me that it had been received and I would see a credit for the original order in 3 or 4 days. When the credit appeared they had not only refunded the purchase price, but the $8.00 I had originally paid for shipping too. Of course I had to pay to ship it back to them, but I've never had a vendor refund purchase price and shipping. AFAIC, Kobo customer service is first rate. Best of luck with your situation. Hope they replace it with a trouble free reader.

11-18-2014, 10:32 PM	#11
Rizla Member Retired Posts: 3,183 Karma: 11721895 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Nook STR (rooted) & Sony T2	If you have a lot of books on the sd-card, try removing them all and do a soft reset. A single bad epub can freak out a device, causing it to become unstable and to drain the battery.

11-19-2014, 08:39 PM	#13
Rizla Member Retired Posts: 3,183 Karma: 11721895 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Nook STR (rooted) & Sony T2	I have no idea why an epub can do it, but it saw it happen several times on a Sony PRS 650. Something in an epub can make a ereader unstable, including causing battery drain. If you have a lot of books, this would be the first culprit I'd look that. It can make the device unstable without even opening the book.

11-19-2014, 09:23 PM	#14
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,155 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	By any chance, did the Sony have an index feature, one where it would scan the contents of an eBook an pre-process it in any manner? If so that could well explain how a malformed book could cause issues.

11-19-2014, 09:50 PM	#15
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	I've never used a Sony ereader, so I don't know about them. For the Kobo ereaders, a broken book can only affect the device when it is doing something with the book. Those times are: - During the book processing when the device is disconnected. If the book is bad, it is most likely to cause the processing to die and that batch of books won't be added. - When a cover image is needed. The first page of the book is rendered and the cover displayed. - When reading the book. In each of these cases, a bad book is likely to cause more processing and hence use more battery. But, so will a large book or a complicated book. And unless a process is left running in the background because of a problem, after each of these is done, there won't be any extra power used. If someone has a book that is causing problems at other times, then I'd like to see it. That way I can work out why it is happening.

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